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Felten, et al., v. RIAA, et al.

Freedom of speech should not be sacrificed in the recording industry's war to restrict the public from making copies of digital music. EFF has asked a federal court to declare that scientists from Princeton and Rice University can publish their research on digital music security weaknesses at the USENIX Conference in August 2001.

When a team led by Princeton Professor Edward Felten accepted a public challenge by the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) to break new security systems, they did not give up their First Amendment right to teach others what they learned. Yet they have been threatened by SDMI and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to keep silent or face litigation under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Professor Felten has a career teaching people about security, yet the recording industry has censored him for finding weaknesses in their security. USENIX regularly publishes scientific papers that describe the weaknesses of technologies, but they are chilled by RIAA litigation threats.

EFF is asking the court to affirm the right of these scientists to publicly present what they have learned and the right of USENIX to publish the scientists' paper in their conference proceedings. EFF has also asked the court to overturn the anti-distribution provisions of the DMCA as unconstitutional restraints on the freedom of expression. Join EFF's fight for scientific freedom in the digital age.

EFF Media Release: Felten Drops RIAA Case -
Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release: Security Researchers Drop Scientific Censorship Case - Government, Industry Claim DMCA Not a Threat to Science. San Francisco - Citing assurances from the government, the recording industry, and a federal court that the threats against his research team were ill-conceived and will not be repeated, Professor Edward Felten and his research team decided not to appeal the November dismissal of their case by a New Jersey Federal Court.http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/20020206_eff_felten_pr.html

EFF Media Release: Scientists Support Professor's Copyright Law Challenge -
Trenton, NJ - Seventeen of the world's top scientists today supported Princeton University Professor Edward Felten and his research team's challenge to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) on free speech grounds. Prominent academics, cryptographers, software programmers, and scientific conference organizers explained to a federal court the stifling effects of the DMCA on scientific research and freedom of expression. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represents the research team in a lawsuit filed June 6 asking a federal judge to declare that the scientists have a First Amendment right to publish their research. (Aug. 13, 2001) http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/20010813_eff_felten_pr.html

EFF Media Release: EFF & Scientists Sue RIAA Over Censorship -
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today asked a federal court to rule that Princeton University Professor Edward Felten and his research team have a First Amendment right to present their research on digital music access-control technologies at the USENIX Security Conference this August in Washington, DC, despite threats from the recording industry. When scientists from Princeton University and Rice University tried to publish their findings in April 2001, the recording industry claimed that the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it illegal to discuss or provide technology that might be used to bypass industry controls limiting how consumers can use music they have purchased. (June 6, 2001)http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/20010606_eff_felten_pr.html

Ferguson Declaration in Felten v. RIAA -
Declaration of Niels Ferguson, a Dutch cryptographer, announcing that he has found severe flaws in HDCP, an Intel-developed security system for preventing computer users from getting digital access to their own LCD monitors, but that he won't publish the details because he enters the US occasionally for business or personal reasons and does not wish to be arrested or sued under the DMCA. In Felten v. RIAA (Aug. 13. 2001)http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/20010813_ferguson_decl.html

RIAA/SDMI Letter to Professor Felten -
Legal threat letter sent by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) Foundation, and SMDI member Verance Inc., to Princeton U. Professor Edward W. Felten, a U.S. Navy security conference organizer, a Navy official, and Princeton administrators, demanding Felten not publish or publicize his work - performed at SDMI's own invitation - exposing security flaws in SDMI's digital music copy protection scheme, or face a lawsuit under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). (Apr. 9, 2001)http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/20010409_riaa_sdmi_letter.html

Statement by Prof. Felten, Re: SDMI -
Statement read by Prof. Edward W. Felten at the Fourth International Information Hiding Workshop, in Pittsburgh: "Our paper was submitted via the normal academic peer-review process. The reviewers, who were chosen for their scientific reputations and credentials, enthusiastically recommended the paper for publication, due to their judgment of the paper's scientific merit. Nevertheless, the Recording Industry Association of America, the SDMI Foundation, and the Verance Corporation threatened to bring a lawsuit if we proceeded with our presentation or the publication of our paper. Threats were made against the authors, against the conference organizers, and against their respective employers...." (Apr. 26, 2001)http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/20010426_felten_message.html

Radio EFF Special on Felten, DMCA, & SDMI -
Electronic Frontier Foundation "Radio EFF" special feature on Prof. Edward W. Felten's legal imbroglio with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), and the technological & political background behind the scenes. RadioEFF is presented in (O)pen Audio MP3, and the special's topics include: Prof. Felten's self-introduction and why his team participated in the "HackSDMI Challenge"; the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and how it is harming free expression and academic research; secrets of digital watermarking; why RIAA wants copy-proof music; and more! (May, 2000)http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/Felten_v_RIAA/felten_audio.html

The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) -
Link to directory of info on the industry standards group that has set itself up as responsible for protecting digital audio content at all costs - even your free speech and fair use rights. The SDMI copy prevention scheme is already being deployed in consumer MP3 hardware, despite its insecurity.http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/SDMI/

Universal [MPAA] & US v. Corley -
Link to directory of info on a related DMCA case: the movie industry's attempt to thwart development of a Linux DVD player driver, and censor speech and publication about the necessary copy-prevention bypassing to make this possible. All in the name of unfounded piracy fears. (DVDs can be easily pirated without recourse to the software, DeCSS, at issue in the case.)http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/MPAA_DVD_cases/

RIAA v. Diamond -
Link to directory of info on another related case: Pre-DMCA, the Recording Industry of America attempts to stop hardware manufacturer Diamond from making and selling MP3 players that do not have copy-prevention "features" built in. RIAA loses.http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/RIAA_v_Diamond/